Reposted from Business CheatSheet by Sam Becker
Scientists have been mimicking nature for years, but few discoveries are this successful, or important. In an effort to develop clean, renewable energy sources, a team from the Australian National University has successfully duplicated one of the more crucial steps in photosynthesis, the process in which plants actively turn sunlight into energy.
Why’s it a big deal? Because it could ultimately open the door to harnessing the process for energy cultivation.
If scientists are able to successfully take the photosynthesis process — which turns sunlight into chemical energy — and apply it to industrial biological systems, sunlight could be used to manufacture hydrogen, which could then be used as fuel. Hydrogen is already used as a fuel in many instances, and if applied on a large scale, it could serve as a replacement for petroleum — all the while contributing no new carbon to the atmosphere. Not only are the two main components required for photosynthesis available in wide abundance, but they are also cheap.
“Water is abundant and so is sunlight. It is an exciting prospect to use them to create hydrogen, and do it cheaply and safely,” Dr. Kastoori Hingorani, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Translational Photosynthesis in the ANU Research School of Biology told Science Daily. Not only are the ingredients abundant, but the process itself is sustainable for the long-term. Since there is no shortage of water or sunlight, if the photosynthesis process is completely harnessed, it could provide energy indefinitely.
